5 Brightree Alternatives Worth Looking At in 2026

Brightree has been the default DME software for so long that many operations don't realize there are options. But "default" doesn't mean "best," and the DME software market in 2026 looks nothing like it did five years ago.

Whether you're frustrated with Brightree's pricing, tired of the interface, or just want to know what else exists — here's an honest look at five platforms serving DME operations today: what they're good at, where they fall short, and who they're built for.

We're one of the five (ScriptRelay), so take our section with the appropriate grain of salt. But we'll be equally honest about the others.

1. Brightree (by ResMed)

Pricing: ~$250/user/month for a single user; ~$150/user/month at 10 users; $5,000–$7,000/month for enterprise (100 users). Implementation runs $5,000–$10,000 for SMBs.

What it does well:
Brightree is the most feature-complete legacy DME platform on the market. It handles billing, order management, inventory, patient intake, resupply, and reporting in a single system. The Parachute Health integration adds electronic prescribing from referring clinicians. If you're a large operation (50+ staff) that needs every possible feature and can afford the per-user pricing, Brightree has been the safe pick for years.

The platform serves over 55 million patients through its provider network and has deep payer integrations. Their electronic health record features include chart management, clinical charting, medication history, and automated drug interaction checking.

Where it falls short:
The interface feels dated. Multiple Reddit threads and G2 reviews describe it as "old school in terms of design and usability." The per-user pricing model gets expensive fast — a 15-person team is looking at $2,000–$3,000/month before implementation costs. And like most legacy platforms, Brightree stores data but doesn't process it into actionable intelligence.

Best for: Large DME operations (50+ staff) with budget for per-user pricing and IT resources for implementation.

Read our detailed Brightree comparison →

2. Parachute Health

Pricing: Free for clinicians placing orders. Subscription-based for DME suppliers (pricing not publicly disclosed; requires demo).

What it does well:
Parachute Health essentially invented DME ePrescribing. Over 270,000 clinicians use it to electronically order DME, replacing faxes, phone calls, and paper forms. Their AI Intake feature consolidates fax and digital orders into one shared platform, which is a genuine workflow improvement. They recently launched authorization workflow integration with Optum, bringing prior auth into the ordering process at the point of care.

CMS just finalized a rule phasing out fax-based claims attachments (projected to save $782 million annually), which validates the direction Parachute has been pushing for a decade.

Where it falls short:
Parachute solves the ordering problem, not the operations problem. Once the order hits your intake queue, you still need separate systems for insurance verification, billing, inventory, delivery coordination, and reorder management.

Best for: DME suppliers who receive high volumes of referral orders and want to digitize the inbound ordering process. Works alongside (not instead of) your operations platform.

Read our detailed Parachute comparison →

3. NikoHealth

Pricing: Custom pricing — transparent and flexible per NikoHealth, but no public numbers. No hidden fees. Demo required for quote.

What it does well:
NikoHealth is the modern entrant that's winning on user experience. Built cloud-native from the ground up, it covers billing/RCM, inventory, patient intake, deliveries, resupply, and reporting in one platform. Synergy Orthopedics reported receiving payments from payers "5 to 10 business days quicker" after switching from their legacy system.

Their migration process runs 90–120 days for small to mid-sized DME operations. Customer support gets consistently good marks — users describe it as a "partnership approach" rather than a vendor relationship.

Where it falls short:
NikoHealth is still growing. Their feature set covers the fundamentals well, but may not match Brightree's depth in edge cases for very large or specialized operations. The AI capabilities are described by competitors as "fragmented across third-party contracts" rather than natively built.

Best for: Mid-market DME operations (10–50 staff) looking to modernize from a legacy system with a clean, all-in-one platform and strong implementation support.

Read our detailed NikoHealth comparison →

4. Bonafide (powered by WellSky)

Pricing: Starting at approximately $1,500/month. Custom pricing based on business needs.

What it does well:
Bonafide positions itself as a full ERP for DME/HME — not just billing software, but enterprise resource planning across inventory, procurement, asset tracking, and billing workflows. The platform is cloud-based with mobile-enabled delivery software that supports digital signature capture and real-time sync. Over $7 billion in claims have been processed through the broader WellSky ecosystem.

Where it falls short:
User reviews are mixed. SourceForge reviews include candid feedback about consistency issues and the platform can feel clunky if you're coming from a modern SaaS tool. The platform has been around for a long time, and some of the UX reflects that.

Best for: Larger DME/HME operations (multiple facilities) that need enterprise-grade resource planning and can work through the learning curve.

5. ScriptRelay

Pricing: Growth tier at $299/month — flat rate, unlimited users.

What it does well:
This is us, so here's our honest pitch and our honest limitations: ScriptRelay is built on the premise that DME operations shouldn't require a team of people doing manual work. Insurance verification, order processing, delivery coordination, and reorder management run autonomously — the system handles the workflow, not just the data storage.

The flat-rate pricing means a 15-person operation pays the same $299/month as a 3-person shop. No per-user fees, no implementation charges, no hidden costs. The platform is AI-native, meaning intelligence is built into the core workflow rather than bolted on as a feature.

Where it falls short:
We're new. ScriptRelay doesn't have decades of payer integrations or thousands of existing customers. If you need the broadest possible feature coverage for edge cases across every DME category, Brightree's years of accumulated functionality will have more depth. Because we automate aggressively, operations that want manual control over every step may find the approach too opinionated.

Best for: DME operations (5–30 staff) frustrated with labor costs and manual workflows, looking for autonomous operations at a predictable flat rate. Especially strong fit for Brightree users who want modern automation without the per-user pricing.

See ScriptRelay pricing →

Side-by-Side Comparison

How to Choose

The right answer depends on your operation's size, pain points, and budget. The wrong answer is staying on a system you've outgrown because switching feels hard.